104 



(JreeukouAie and Stove Flantd. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



strong grower, witli long racemes of par- 

 ticularly bright yellow and red flowers, 

 produced freely and lasting for a long time 

 in beauty. One of the be.st. 



C. varium nanuni. A much more com- 

 pact-habited plant, requiring little stopping 

 to ensure a sufficiently compact growth. 

 It has fine, glossy. Holly-like leaves, larger 

 than most of the other varieties. A pro- 

 fuse flowerer, and altogether a very desir- 

 able plant. 



Insects. — So far as we have been able 

 to oljserve they possess a complete im- 

 munity from mildew, otherwise they would 

 be ill able to bear the continued use of the 

 syringe through the whole of the gro^\'ing 

 season, which Ls an absolute necessity to 

 keep down red spider. To this latter they 

 are more than ordinarily subject, and if 

 allowed to get ahead upon them, it will 

 quickly cause quantities of their leaves to 

 fall, after which they seldom do much 

 good. This pest is not confined to the 

 under surface of the leaves of these Choro- 

 zemas, as in the case of the majority of 

 plants affected by it, but establishes itself 

 equally on the upper portion, necessitating 

 a thoiough application of water to every 

 part of the plants. In addition they 

 should be frequently examined tluough 

 the growing season, and if found affected 

 with the insect should be at once washed 

 with a weak solution of insecticide ; after- 

 wards continue the use of the syringe with 

 clean water. If brown scale happens to 

 get established upon them, the best plan 

 is to cut back all soft growth, and wash 

 with insecticide, which should be used 

 strong enough to kill the iiLsects ; repeat 

 the dressing in eight or ten days, before 

 the plants have pushed any fresh gi-owth. 

 Greenfly will sometimes establish itself on 

 the points of the shoots ; fumigating is the 

 best remedy, the plants, from their hard 

 foliage, standing it sufficiently strong to 

 destroy the insects. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



The Chinese and the Japanese Chry- 

 santhemums are too well known to require 

 describing, and we need only point to their 

 beauty and extreme usefulness, thriving as 

 they do freely with ordinary attention, and 

 blooming profusely during the last months 

 of the year, when there is comparatively 

 little in the way of flowers to enliven our 

 plant-houses. In moie recent years the 

 Japanese varieties, with their elegant 

 tasseled flowers, have come much into 

 favour, and are likely to continue so, as 

 they are devoid of the somewhat ball-like 

 formality which the ordinary large-flowered 



kinds possess. Chrysanthemums are among 

 the easiest to grow of all flowering plants 

 subjected to pot culture, yet they are not 

 always seen so well managed as they should 

 be. There are few plants that require such 

 liberal feeding, and it is more to the ab- 

 sence of a sufficient supply early enough 

 in the summer than to any other cause 

 that the unsatisfactory condition they are 

 often seen in is attributable. They strike 

 readily from cuttings made of the young 

 shoots^ that are produced freely at the base 

 of the plants ; they may be struck either 

 in the latter months of the year or towards 

 spiing. In most cases the earlier period 

 will be found best ; about November select 

 stout shoots that have not been dra^vn 

 up weakly through the lalants being too 

 much crowded. Put them singly in smaU 

 pots, or several together in larger ones, 

 three parts filled x^dth fine loam, sand, and 

 a little leaf-mould, with a layer of sand on 

 the top ; stand the cuttings on a moist 

 bottom in a cool house or pit that can be 

 kept at a greenhouse temperature, cover 

 with a projjagating gla.ss and keep moist. 

 Here they xvill root in the course of six 

 weeks without the tops being at all drawn 

 in the way that is unavoidable x\hen they 

 are subjected to heat. As soon as the 

 cuttings aie well rooted remove the glasses, 

 and put them singly in 3-inch pots, using 

 soil similar to that in which they were 

 struck, but xrith less sand in it ; when top 

 growth fairly begins pinch out the points 

 of the shoots, and treat generally, in the 

 matters of air and water, as required for 

 other softwooded greenhouse plants. About 

 the end of March move them into 6-inch 

 pots, well drained, using soil well enriched 

 with rotten manure ; in April jjut them in 

 a cold frame or pit, where they can be 

 kept close to the glass and have j^lenty of 

 air, xxith means to just keep out the frost 

 on the sharp nights that often come about 

 that time. At the beginning of May inure 

 them to the open air by taking off the lights 

 in the daytime ; a little later on stop the 

 shoots, and stand the plants out in the full 

 sun, with the pots plunged in ashes, not 

 too close together. In June, before they 

 get at all pot-bound, move the plants into 

 their blooming pots, which may be from 

 10 to 12 inches in diameter, according to 

 the size they are intended to be grown to. 

 Use plenty of drainage material, and do 

 not make the .soil too fine ; put more 

 rotten manure in it than most plants would 

 bear, and a good sprinkling of sand. 



Tie the shoots well out to sticks so as to 

 keep the centres of the plants open, and 

 plunge the pots in ashes, standing them 

 far enough apart to prevent their being in 



